The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program

N. Abgrall; I. J. Arnquist; F. T. Avignone; H. O. Back; A. S. Barabash; F. E. Bertrand; M. Boswell; A. W. Bradley; V. Brudanin; M. Busch; M. Buuck; D. Byram; A. S. Caldwell; Y. D. Chan; C. D. Christofferson; P. H. Chu; C. Cuesta; J. A. Detwiler; J. A. Dunmore; Yu Efremenko; H. Ejiri; S. R. Elliott; P. Finnerty; A. Galindo-Uribarri; V. M. Gehman; T. Gilliss; G. K. Giovanetti; J. Goett; M. P. Green; J. Gruszko; I. S. Guinn; V. E. Guiseppe; R. Henning; E. W. Hoppe; S. Howard; M. A. Howe; B. R. Jasinski; R. A. Johnson; K. J. Keeter; M. F. Kidd; O. Kochetov; S. I. Konovalov; R. T. Kouzes; B. D. LaFerriere; J. Leon; J. C. Loach; J. Macmullin; S. Macmullin; R. D. Martin; R. Massarczyk; S. Meijer; S. Mertens; M. L. Miller; J. L. Orrell; C. O'Shaughnessy; N. R. Overman; A. W.P. Poon; K. Pushkin; D. C. Radford; J. Rager; K. Rielage; R. G.H. Robertson; E. Romero-Romero; M. C. Ronquest; A. G. Schubert; B. Shanks; M. Shirchenko; K. J. Snavely; N. Snyder; D. Steele; A. M. Suriano; D. Tedeschi; J. E. Trimble; R. L. Varner; S. Vasilyev; K. Vetter; K. Vorren; B. R. White; J. F. Wilkerson; C. Wiseman; W. Xu; E. Yakushev; C. H. Yu; V. Yumatov; I. Zhitnikov

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070

The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program

N. Abgrall, I. J. Arnquist, F. T. Avignone, H. O. Back, A. S. Barabash, F. E. Bertrand, M. Boswell, A. W. Bradley, V. Brudanin, M. Busch, M. Buuck, D. Byram, A. S. Caldwell, Y. D. Chan, C. D. Christofferson, P. H. Chu, C. Cuesta, J. A. Detwiler, J. A. Dunmore, Yu EfremenkoH. Ejiri, S. R. Elliott, P. Finnerty, A. Galindo-Uribarri, V. M. Gehman, T. Gilliss, G. K. Giovanetti, J. Goett, M. P. Green, J. Gruszko, I. S. Guinn, V. E. Guiseppe, R. Henning, E. W. Hoppe, S. Howard, M. A. Howe, B. R. Jasinski, R. A. Johnson, K. J. Keeter, M. F. Kidd, O. Kochetov, S. I. Konovalov, R. T. Kouzes, B. D. LaFerriere, J. Leon, J. C. Loach, J. Macmullin, S. Macmullin, R. D. Martin, R. Massarczyk, S. Meijer, S. Mertens, M. L. Miller, J. L. Orrell, C. O'Shaughnessy, N. R. Overman, A. W.P. Poon, K. Pushkin, D. C. Radford, J. Rager, K. Rielage, R. G.H. Robertson, E. Romero-Romero, M. C. Ronquest, A. G. Schubert, B. Shanks, M. Shirchenko, K. J. Snavely, N. Snyder, D. Steele, A. M. Suriano, D. Tedeschi, J. E. Trimble, R. L. Varner, S. Vasilyev, K. Vetter, K. Vorren, B. R. White, J. F. Wilkerson, C. Wiseman, W. Xu, E. Yakushev, C. H. Yu, V. Yumatov, I. Zhitnikov

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Abstract

The Majorana collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator at the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Homestake gold mine, in Lead, SD. The apparatus will use Ge detectors, enriched in isotope ⁷⁶Ge, to demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale Ge detector experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The long half-life of this postulated process requires that the apparatus be extremely low in radioactive isotopes whose decays may produce backgrounds to the search. The radioassay program conducted by the collaboration to ensure that the materials comprising the apparatus are sufficiently pure is described. The resulting measurements from gamma-ray counting, neutron activation and mass spectroscopy of the radioactive-isotope contamination for the materials studied for use in the detector are reported. We interpret these numbers in the context of the expected background for the experiment.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	22-36
Number of pages	15
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	828
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070
State	Published - Aug 21 2016

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under Award Numbers DE-AC02–05CH11231 , DE-AC52–06NA25396 , DE-FG02–97ER41041 , DE-FG02–97ER41033 , DE-FG02–97ER41042 , DE-SC0012612 , DE-FG02–10ER41715 , DE-SC0010254 , and DE-FG02–97ER41020 . We acknowledge support from the Particle Astrophysics Program and Nuclear Physics Program of the National Science Foundation through grant numbers PHY-0919270 , PHY-1003940 , 0855314 , PHY-1202950 , MRI 0923142 and 1003399 . We acknowledge support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research , grant No. 15-02-02919 . We acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL / LDRD Program. This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract DE-AC05–00OR22725 . This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract No. DE-AC02–05CH11231 . We thank our hosts and colleagues at the Sanford Underground Research Facility for their support. We acknowledge support from the facilities; the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant , the Kimballton Underground Research Facility and the Low Background Facility at Oroville , the Berkeley Low Background Facilities at SURF and at LBNL , the McClellan Nuclear Radiation Center , the North Carolina State University's PULSTAR research and teaching reactor , the Radiation Safety Office at Virginia Tech , the Radiation Safety Department at the University of Tennesse, Knoxville , and Nu Instruments Limited in Wrexham, UK .

Keywords

Double beta decay
Germanium counting
Low background
Majorana
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Neutron activation analysis
Radiopurity
Trace analysis

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10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070

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Abgrall, N., Arnquist, I. J., Avignone, F. T., Back, H. O., Barabash, A. S., Bertrand, F. E., Boswell, M., Bradley, A. W., Brudanin, V., Busch, M., Buuck, M., Byram, D., Caldwell, A. S., Chan, Y. D., Christofferson, C. D., Chu, P. H., Cuesta, C., Detwiler, J. A., Dunmore, J. A., ... Zhitnikov, I. (2016). The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 828, 22-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070

@article{42114643ae2445fdba10cbe6bc68994a,

title = "The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program",

abstract = "The Majorana collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator at the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Homestake gold mine, in Lead, SD. The apparatus will use Ge detectors, enriched in isotope 76Ge, to demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale Ge detector experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The long half-life of this postulated process requires that the apparatus be extremely low in radioactive isotopes whose decays may produce backgrounds to the search. The radioassay program conducted by the collaboration to ensure that the materials comprising the apparatus are sufficiently pure is described. The resulting measurements from gamma-ray counting, neutron activation and mass spectroscopy of the radioactive-isotope contamination for the materials studied for use in the detector are reported. We interpret these numbers in the context of the expected background for the experiment.",

keywords = "Double beta decay, Germanium counting, Low background, Majorana, Mass spectrometry, Mass spectroscopy, Neutron activation analysis, Radiopurity, Trace analysis",

author = "N. Abgrall and Arnquist, {I. J.} and Avignone, {F. T.} and Back, {H. O.} and Barabash, {A. S.} and Bertrand, {F. E.} and M. Boswell and Bradley, {A. W.} and V. Brudanin and M. Busch and M. Buuck and D. Byram and Caldwell, {A. S.} and Chan, {Y. D.} and Christofferson, {C. D.} and Chu, {P. H.} and C. Cuesta and Detwiler, {J. A.} and Dunmore, {J. A.} and Yu Efremenko and H. Ejiri and Elliott, {S. R.} and P. Finnerty and A. Galindo-Uribarri and Gehman, {V. M.} and T. Gilliss and Giovanetti, {G. K.} and J. Goett and Green, {M. P.} and J. Gruszko and Guinn, {I. S.} and Guiseppe, {V. E.} and R. Henning and Hoppe, {E. W.} and S. Howard and Howe, {M. A.} and Jasinski, {B. R.} and Johnson, {R. A.} and Keeter, {K. J.} and Kidd, {M. F.} and O. Kochetov and Konovalov, {S. I.} and Kouzes, {R. T.} and LaFerriere, {B. D.} and J. Leon and Loach, {J. C.} and J. Macmullin and S. Macmullin and Martin, {R. D.} and R. Massarczyk and S. Meijer and S. Mertens and Miller, {M. L.} and Orrell, {J. L.} and C. O'Shaughnessy and Overman, {N. R.} and Poon, {A. W.P.} and K. Pushkin and Radford, {D. C.} and J. Rager and K. Rielage and Robertson, {R. G.H.} and E. Romero-Romero and Ronquest, {M. C.} and Schubert, {A. G.} and B. Shanks and M. Shirchenko and Snavely, {K. J.} and N. Snyder and D. Steele and Suriano, {A. M.} and D. Tedeschi and Trimble, {J. E.} and Varner, {R. L.} and S. Vasilyev and K. Vetter and K. Vorren and White, {B. R.} and Wilkerson, {J. F.} and C. Wiseman and W. Xu and E. Yakushev and Yu, {C. H.} and V. Yumatov and I. Zhitnikov",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2016",

month = aug,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070",

language = "English",

volume = "828",

pages = "22--36",

journal = "Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment",

issn = "0168-9002",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Abgrall, N, Arnquist, IJ, Avignone, FT, Back, HO, Barabash, AS, Bertrand, FE, Boswell, M, Bradley, AW, Brudanin, V, Busch, M, Buuck, M, Byram, D, Caldwell, AS, Chan, YD, Christofferson, CD, Chu, PH, Cuesta, C, Detwiler, JA, Dunmore, JA, Efremenko, Y, Ejiri, H, Elliott, SR, Finnerty, P, Galindo-Uribarri, A, Gehman, VM, Gilliss, T, Giovanetti, GK, Goett, J, Green, MP, Gruszko, J, Guinn, IS, Guiseppe, VE, Henning, R, Hoppe, EW, Howard, S, Howe, MA, Jasinski, BR, Johnson, RA, Keeter, KJ, Kidd, MF, Kochetov, O, Konovalov, SI, Kouzes, RT, LaFerriere, BD, Leon, J, Loach, JC, Macmullin, J, Macmullin, S, Martin, RD, Massarczyk, R, Meijer, S, Mertens, S, Miller, ML, Orrell, JL, O'Shaughnessy, C, Overman, NR, Poon, AWP, Pushkin, K, Radford, DC, Rager, J, Rielage, K, Robertson, RGH, Romero-Romero, E, Ronquest, MC, Schubert, AG, Shanks, B, Shirchenko, M, Snavely, KJ, Snyder, N, Steele, D, Suriano, AM, Tedeschi, D, Trimble, JE, Varner, RL, Vasilyev, S, Vetter, K, Vorren, K, White, BR, Wilkerson, JF, Wiseman, C, Xu, W, Yakushev, E, Yu, CH, Yumatov, V & Zhitnikov, I 2016, 'The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 828, pp. 22-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program

AU - Abgrall, N.

AU - Arnquist, I. J.

AU - Avignone, F. T.

AU - Back, H. O.

AU - Barabash, A. S.

AU - Bertrand, F. E.

AU - Boswell, M.

AU - Bradley, A. W.

AU - Brudanin, V.

AU - Busch, M.

AU - Buuck, M.

AU - Byram, D.

AU - Caldwell, A. S.

AU - Chan, Y. D.

AU - Christofferson, C. D.

AU - Chu, P. H.

AU - Cuesta, C.

AU - Detwiler, J. A.

AU - Dunmore, J. A.

AU - Efremenko, Yu

AU - Ejiri, H.

AU - Elliott, S. R.

AU - Finnerty, P.

AU - Galindo-Uribarri, A.

AU - Gehman, V. M.

AU - Gilliss, T.

AU - Giovanetti, G. K.

AU - Goett, J.

AU - Green, M. P.

AU - Gruszko, J.

AU - Guinn, I. S.

AU - Guiseppe, V. E.

AU - Henning, R.

AU - Hoppe, E. W.

AU - Howard, S.

AU - Howe, M. A.

AU - Jasinski, B. R.

AU - Johnson, R. A.

AU - Keeter, K. J.

AU - Kidd, M. F.

AU - Kochetov, O.

AU - Konovalov, S. I.

AU - Kouzes, R. T.

AU - LaFerriere, B. D.

AU - Leon, J.

AU - Loach, J. C.

AU - Macmullin, J.

AU - Macmullin, S.

AU - Martin, R. D.

AU - Massarczyk, R.

AU - Meijer, S.

AU - Mertens, S.

AU - Miller, M. L.

AU - Orrell, J. L.

AU - O'Shaughnessy, C.

AU - Overman, N. R.

AU - Poon, A. W.P.

AU - Pushkin, K.

AU - Radford, D. C.

AU - Rager, J.

AU - Rielage, K.

AU - Robertson, R. G.H.

AU - Romero-Romero, E.

AU - Ronquest, M. C.

AU - Schubert, A. G.

AU - Shanks, B.

AU - Shirchenko, M.

AU - Snavely, K. J.

AU - Snyder, N.

AU - Steele, D.

AU - Suriano, A. M.

AU - Tedeschi, D.

AU - Trimble, J. E.

AU - Varner, R. L.

AU - Vasilyev, S.

AU - Vetter, K.

AU - Vorren, K.

AU - White, B. R.

AU - Wilkerson, J. F.

AU - Wiseman, C.

AU - Xu, W.

AU - Yakushev, E.

AU - Yu, C. H.

AU - Yumatov, V.

AU - Zhitnikov, I.

PY - 2016/8/21

Y1 - 2016/8/21

N2 - The Majorana collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator at the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Homestake gold mine, in Lead, SD. The apparatus will use Ge detectors, enriched in isotope 76Ge, to demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale Ge detector experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The long half-life of this postulated process requires that the apparatus be extremely low in radioactive isotopes whose decays may produce backgrounds to the search. The radioassay program conducted by the collaboration to ensure that the materials comprising the apparatus are sufficiently pure is described. The resulting measurements from gamma-ray counting, neutron activation and mass spectroscopy of the radioactive-isotope contamination for the materials studied for use in the detector are reported. We interpret these numbers in the context of the expected background for the experiment.

AB - The Majorana collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator at the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Homestake gold mine, in Lead, SD. The apparatus will use Ge detectors, enriched in isotope 76Ge, to demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale Ge detector experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The long half-life of this postulated process requires that the apparatus be extremely low in radioactive isotopes whose decays may produce backgrounds to the search. The radioassay program conducted by the collaboration to ensure that the materials comprising the apparatus are sufficiently pure is described. The resulting measurements from gamma-ray counting, neutron activation and mass spectroscopy of the radioactive-isotope contamination for the materials studied for use in the detector are reported. We interpret these numbers in the context of the expected background for the experiment.

KW - Double beta decay

KW - Germanium counting

KW - Low background

KW - Majorana

KW - Mass spectrometry

KW - Mass spectroscopy

KW - Neutron activation analysis

KW - Radiopurity

KW - Trace analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84966326623&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070

DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84966326623

SN - 0168-9002

VL - 828

SP - 22

EP - 36

JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

ER -

The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program

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